SalaryRow

Bridge and Lock Tenders salary

SOC 53-6011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median
$57,700
per year, nationally
Middle half
$38,640–$69,620
25th to 75th percentile
Employed
3,040
in the U.S.
Growth 2024–34
-3.3%
300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$28,090$75,360
10th
$28,090
25th
$38,640
Median
$57,700
75th
$69,620
90th
$75,360

Getting in

Typical education to enter
High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where bridge and lock tenders earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#StateMedianCost of livingEmployedConcentrationvs. national
1Washington$78,020107.0500.67×
2Mississippi$74,73087.0502.06×
3Minnesota$74,42098.6601.06×
4Missouri$74,11090.8400.73×
5California$72,390110.7800.24×
6Illinois$70,890100.02902.45×
7Iowa$70,89087.8501.77×
8Pennsylvania$68,81097.61100.95×
9Alabama$66,83088.8701.60×
10West Virginia$65,46089.5604.59×
11Indiana$60,78093.3600.94×
12Tennessee$60,42091.9600.92×
13Ohio$58,41092.81100.98×
14Kentucky$58,22090.21002.48×
15Wisconsin$57,35094.11101.90×
16Massachusetts$55,830105.8400.53×
17New York$51,560107.92101.13×
18Michigan$50,54096.21301.47×
19Virginia$47,120101.1400.47×
20Texas$45,82097.1700.25×
21North Carolina$41,38094.3500.49×
22Louisiana$39,09088.23709.76×
23Florida$28,090103.44702.44×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where bridge and lock tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for bridge and lock tenders

The 10 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#Metro areaMedianCost of livingEmployedConcentrationvs. national
1Lafayette, LA$75,34087.2308.54×
2St. Louis, MO-IL$74,48095.1301.26×
3Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$73,110103.61201.39×
4Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL$70,89089.15012.74×
5Baton Rouge, LA$69,97090.8404.36×
6Pittsburgh, PA$68,81094.71104.91×
7New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$54,720112.61200.66×
8Cleveland, OH$44,50093.9401.74×
9New Orleans-Metairie, LA$39,11092.6909.99×
10Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI$35,000100.3501.41×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where bridge and lock tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

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